I Cogitate
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Heroism and cowardice in the Bush Era
Rosa Brooks had a compelling column -- as usual -- last week in the Los Angeles Times, taking the press to task for dis-believing -- let alone not accepting on face value -- the lies and subterfuge, and the hubristic audacity surrounding these twin 'pillars' of the Bush Administration.
It's as if the collective press simply decided 'no, this cannot be' back in 2000 and then went along parroting the issued talking points.
The Bush Administration apparently decided to engage in both a 'cower campaign' against the press, combined with a bold and bombastic nefariousness writ large, bigger than ever before -- the thinking being 'we'll frighten some and the remainder simply won't believe everything we are attempting.'
Brooks covers the shameful cowardice element of the mainsteam media as well as anyone so far.
Shame on Bush -- and usGo here for the remainder.
Ignoring the Constitution, lying, hypocrisy? Yes, but it didn't happen in a vacuum.
Rosa Brooks
Los Angeles Times
July 6, 2007
THE MEDIA'S Stockholm syndrome finally seems to be wearing off.
Like freed hostages who gradually cease to identify with their captors, mainstream media outlets seem to have been seized by a new spirit of liberation in their coverage of the Bush administration. Lately, we've seen a rash of astonished, outraged stories and editorials relating to the administration's recently discovered malfeasance.
They go something like this:
• President Bush commuted "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence! That's outrageous! Bush's own Justice Department routinely calls for some of the harshest sentences available under the federal sentencing guidelines! Why, Bush is a hypocrite!
• Bush is ignoring his constitutional duties! As the New York Times ponderously opined two weeks ago: "President Bush is notorious for issuing statements taking exception to hundreds of bills as he signs them. This week, we learned that in a shocking number of cases, the Bush administration has refused to enact those laws…." Why, the executive branch doesn't even pretend to execute laws it doesn't like!
• And, hey, this whole time, Dick Cheney's been completely off the reservation! The guy kept everyone out of the loop, including the Cabinet, as a recent Washington Post series meticulously documented. When senior administration officials learned belatedly of Cheney's machinations on military commissions, Guantanamo and interrogation tactics, many of them considered the vice president's positions unjustified, outrageous, even dangerous. Why, much of the time, virtually no one seems to have supported the controversial positions Cheney took, except for Cheney himself, a handful of dedicated acolytes and the clueless president (who was allowed to be "the decider" only as long as Cheney rigged the options in advance).
The new media message is righteous and clear: Administration officials tricked us all of us! They assured us that everything they did was legal … necessary … for our own good … but now we see that they were lying!
Well, yeah. So what else is new?
and
As for heroism, give it up to John Koppel who is putting his career on the line with his guest column today in the Denver Post. A lawyer in the Department of Justice, Koppel is speaking for many of the line employees in national goivernment -- those too fearful to say or write what they are thinking and feeling. Now some may say Koppel is late to the game or so what, the Bush-eviks wouldn't dare go after him him but is there anyone who has strayed from the party line that this cabal hasn't menaced or savaged? Think about it.
Bush justice is a national disgraceHe concludes with:
John S. Koppel
Denver Post
7/05/2007
As a longtime attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, I can honestly say that I have never been as ashamed of the department and government that I serve as I am at this time.
The public record now plainly demonstrates that both the DOJ and the government as a whole have been thoroughly politicized in a manner that is inappropriate, unethical and indeed unlawful. The unconscionable commutation of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's sentence, the misuse of warrantless investigative powers under the Patriot Act and the deplorable treatment of U.S. attorneys all point to an unmistakable pattern of abuse.
In the course of its tenure since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration has turned the entire government (and the DOJ in particular) into a veritable Augean stable on issues such as civil rights, civil liberties, international law and basic human rights, as well as criminal prosecution and federal employment and contracting practices. It has systematically undermined the rule of law in the name of fighting terrorism, and it has sought to insulate its actions from legislative or judicial scrutiny and accountability by invoking national security at every turn, engaging in persistent fearmongering, routinely impugning the integrity and/or patriotism of its critics, and protecting its own lawbreakers. This is neither normal government conduct nor "politics as usual," but a national disgrace of a magnitude unseen since the days of Watergate - which, in fact, I believe it eclipses.
I realize that this constitutionally protected statement subjects me to a substantial risk of unlawful reprisal from extremely ruthless people who have repeatedly taken such action in the past. But I am confident that I am speaking on behalf of countless thousands of honorable public servants, at Justice and elsewhere, who take their responsibilities seriously and share these views. And some things must be said, whatever the risk.Go here for the remainder.
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